Interviews with Members

During fall 2010, University of Iowa students (14 female and one male) in Pamela Creedon’s Gender and Mass Media class decided they wanted to learn more about the status of women journalists in the media. They had read nearly three dozen essays from women newspaper journalists, editors and executives in their textbook: “The Edge of Change: Women in the 20th Century Press” published in 2009. The students decided they wanted to learn more about women journalists in all media—not only newspapers.

“It’s a search for news and answers, presented across a variety of publishing platforms. In some ways, journalism has gotten smaller, with hyperlocal coverage, and increasingly micro, with every move covered by Twitter. But we’ve lost a lot of the larger investigative picture.”

“I was sexually harassed to the point that I was afraid and humiliated and that pushed me to make a decision that I sometimes regret: Instead of reporting the harassment, I left the paper. The person who harassed me went on to have a huge career at the paper and I’ve never quite forgiven him, or myself for not standing up and reporting him.”

“I define equality the same way I define feminism: Feminism is not female supremacy, but the desire to see every woman, man and child define themselves without fear for their physical or mental well being.”

“We see women becoming journalism leaders. Will they be different as the men who predominated in the past? Who knows? The answer is as individual as the women themselves. But just having more role models and pioneers should make a difference.”

“I am a black woman and sometimes I find myself sticking out at journalism conferences and gatherings. Sometimes there are one or two black folks and a handful of woman but I definitely find myself being the minority! Would love for there to be more!”

“Objectivity is a difficult subject to deal with. Ideally reporters and editors keep their personal feelings out of news reports. Reporting should be factual, balanced, fair and as complete as possible. My approach is to present the facts and let the reader draw conclusions…”